Adapter assembly for cassettes



United States Patent 3,186,321 6/1965 Kimrey Y. 95/31 3,282,520 11/1966Hunt 242/208 3,342,431 9/1967 Mouissie .t 242/ l PrimaryExaminer-Leonard D. Christian Attorneys-Robert W. Hampton and Milton S.Sales ABSTRACT: This invention relates to an adapter assembly for acassette of the type having an outer drum and an inner core upon whichfilm is wound. A clamp within the core secures one end of the film andis arranged to be opened by a release lever after the film has beenunwound from the core, The adapter assembly includes a trigger pin whichis normally held away from the cassette so that the cassette may beeasily inserted into the assembly without interference from the triggerpin. Upon opening the outer drum of the cassette, the trigger pin isautomatically lowered through the opening into contact with the filmconvolutions to rest thereon as the film is unwound from the inner core.After the last convolution has been unwound, the pin drops into a recessin the core where it engages the release lever to open the clamp andrelease the end of the film from the cassette.

Patented Dec. 1, 1970 Sheet l of 4 WILLIAM R LYNCH PHlLlP A. PAYNEALBERT B. ZORNOW V INVENTORS f iar 4) ATTORNEYS Patented Dec. 1, 1970Sheet R LYNCH j BPAYNE WILLIAM PHILIP -A. ALBERT ZORNOW INVENTORS BY ayATTORNEYS Patentd Dec. 1, 1970 Sheet WILLIAM I? LYNCH PAYNE B. 20

PHILIP A. ALBERT RNOW INVENTORS BY jbA l/ W-M'OM ATTORNEYS Patented Dec.1, 1970 3,544,039

Sheet 4 014 WILLIAM R LYNCH PHILIP A. PAYNE ALBERT B. ZORNOW INVENTORS Yay/ ATTORNEYS BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention Thepresent invention relates to an adapter assembly for cassettes having acore upon which a' strip of web material is wound with an end clampedwithin the core, the adapter assembly being arranged to automaticallyrelease the strip from the core as it is withdrawn from the cassette.

2. Description of the Prior Art Cassettes of the type described hereinare known in the art and are used primarily, but not exclusively, forphotographic film processors. Such a cassette includes a cylindricalouter drum having a window, an inner drum rotatable within the outerdrum and having an opening corresponding to the window in the outerdrum. When the inner drum opening and the outer drum window are alinedaccess may be had to the interior of the outer drum so thatthe film orother web material may be loaded into or withdrawn from the cassette.When rotated from that position, the inner drum forms a lighttight sealwith the outer drum. A lug on the inner drum extends radially through anannular slot in the outer drum, the ends of the slot forming limits tothe amount of travel of the inner drum. The cassette further includes acylindrical core mounted coaxially with the outer drum and rotatablerelative thereto. The core includes a slot into which an end of the filmis inserted and a clamp in the slot to hold the film end. The clamp hasa release lever which extends into an annular groove in the core.Rotation of the release lever against the clamp-closing force of aspring opens the clamp to release the film when the end of the film isreached.

' Such cassettes are designed to cooperate with a trigger pin which ispivotally mounted to an adapter assembly arranged to receive thecassette. The trigger pin is spring biased so that one of its endsenters the window opening as the inner drum is rotated to open thewindow. The trigger pin then rests upon the outer convolution of thefilm and rides thereon as the film is removed from the inner core. Afterthe last convolution of the film is removed, the end of the trigger pinfalls into the annular groove in the inner core and abuts with therelease lever so that further rotation of the inner core opens the clampto release the end of the film. Since the trigger pin is constantlybiased towards its operative position, it must be manually held awayfrom the cassette as the cassette is inserted or withdrawn from theadapter assembly and while the window is being closed.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION It is an object of the present invention toprovide an adapter assembly for cassettes of the type described above,wherein a trigger pin on the assembly serves to release the end of theweb material as it is being removed from the cassette, the trigger pinbeing automatically operable to position itself in a position which willnot interfere with the cassette operation whenever the cassette isclosed and to automatically assume an operative position when thecassette is opened to present the film for removal.

In accordance with the preferred embodiment of the present invention,the trigger pin is normally held away from contact with the cassette bya spring. As the cassette is opened, the lug on the inner drum of thecassette pulls the trigger pin against the force of the spring into itsoperative position within the cassette.

The invention, and its objects and advantages, will become more apparentin the detailed description of the preferred embodiments presentedbelow.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWING In the detailed description of thepreferred embodiment of the invention presented below, reference is madeto the accompanying drawing, in which:

FIG. 1 is a fragmental view of the adapter assembly of the presentinvention showing the cassette inserted in the adapter and partiallyopened;

FIG. 2 is similar to FIG. 1 wherein the cassette has been fully opened;

FIG. d is a pictorial view of the adapter assembly of the presentinvention showing the assembly operation during film release from theinner core of the cassette;

FIG. 4 is a sectional view taken along line 4- of FIG. 3 showing theposition of parts while film is being removed from the inner core; and

FIG. 5 is a sectional view similar to FIG. 4 showing the position ofparts after the last convolution of film has been removed from the innercore.

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT The Cassette The adapterassembly shown in the preferred embodiment is arranged to receive aconventional cassette. Referring to FIG. 1, the cassette shown has acylindrical outer housing or drum Mi with openings 12 and 14 forming awindow and an annular slot, respectively. An inner drum to is rotatablycarried within outer drum it). Inner drum to has an opening 18 which canbe alined with window 12 to provide access to the interior of thecassette. The inner drum carries a lug 20 slidable in slot 14 between aposition where inner drum 16 forms a lighttight closure with window 12and a position where opening R3 is alined with window 112. Thesepositions correspond to the position of lug 2d at bottom and topextremities of annular slot M as shown in FIG. 1. Outer drum ltl carriesa key 22 which has the same cross-sectional shape as lug 20 and isalined with the lug when window opening 12 is closed. FIG. 2 shows theadapter assembly and cassette when lug 20 is positioned at the upperextremity of slot 14.

With reference to FIG. 3, inner drum 16 is provided with a handle formanually turning the inner drum in a clockwise direction with respect toouter drum ill to open window 12 and to thereby provide access to theinterior of the cassette. Handle 24 has a spring-loaded, detent lockmechanism, not shown, which is actuated by thumb button 26. The outerdrum has an annular ridge 2% which serves as a limit stop when thecassette is inserted into the adapter as set forth hereinafter.

A core 34 is rotatably carried within and coaxial with drums it) and 16.Core 3% has a slot 32 (FIGS. 4 and 5) into which an end of a strip ofweb material 34 may be inserted. The end of strip 34 is secured in slot32 by a clamp member 36 made up of a pivoted lever 38 and a biasingspring 40 arranged to bias the clamp towards its closed position.

Core St) has a groove 42 into which one end of lever 38 extends througha slot 4d. Spring 40 biases the upper end of lever 38 towards the leftextremity of slot 44 as seen in FIGS. 4 and 5 to close clamp .36. Whenlever 38 is rotated in a clockwise direction relative to core 30 bymeans to be described hereinafter, clamp 36 is opened to release the endof web material 34.

The Adapter Assembly The adapter assembly has side plates 46 and 48 anda top plate Sil. Side plate 48 has a circular cutout 52 positioned sothat outer drum 10 of the cassette may be inserted through that plate.The circular cutout has a notch corresponding in size and position tokey 22 and lug 20 on outer drum Ill. Thus, once the cassette is insertedinto the adapter assembly and inner drum i6 is rotated, lug 20 locks thecassette in the adapter assembly. Annular ridge 28 on outer drumcooperates with lug 20 to tightly lock the cassette in place.

A shaft 54 is rotatably mounted in hearings in side walls 4-6 and 8. Theright end of shaft 54, as seen in FIG. I, carries a rigidly mounted arm56 extending radially therefrom. A second arm 58 is rotatably mounted onthe outward end of arm 56 by a stud 69. Arm 58 has a slot 62 which rideson a peg 64 on side plate The upper end of arm 58 has a lug 66 extendinginto the path of lug 20 as it travels along annular slot 14. A spring 68attached to peg 64 acts on the upper end )f arm 58 to maintain the shaftin the illustrated position.

A second arm 70 is supported at the other end of shaft 54 to be rotatedtherewith. A stud 72 is rotatably carried at the other end of arm 70 andsupports a trigger pin 74 which extends generally towards the cassette.Trigger pin 74 is biased for rotation in a clockwise direction as shownin FIGS. 4 and 5 by a spring 76. The trigger pin normally rests upon asupport plate 78 which is mounted to arm 70. In the position shown inFIG. 1, spring 68 has rotated shaft 54 to pull arm 70 and trigger pin 74away from the cassette.

A roller 80 is carried by a slide 82 which is movably mounted below topplate 50. A spring 84 (FIG. 3) is tensioned between the slide and thetop plate to bias the slide outwardly. The connection between the springand the slide is now shown. The purpose of the slide will be describedin detail hereinafter.

Operation Assuming that the cassette contains exposed photographic filmto be processed, it is inserted through side plate 46 with lug 20 alinedwith key 22. In this position of lug 20, inner drum 16 is rotated to aposition underlying window 12 to form a lighttight seal. As the cassetteis inserted, trigger pin 74 has assumed its position shown in FIG. 1 soas not to interfere with the cassette. After lug 20 has passed sideplate 48, the operator manually depresses thumb button 26 to release thedetent lock mechanism. The operator can now rotate the inner drum byhandle 24 until lug 20 reaches lug 66 on arm 58. Further rotation of lug20 and theinner core draws arm 58 upwardly to rotate shaft 54. Thismovement shifts the upper end of arm 70 towards now opened window 12 sothat the end of trigger pin 74 enters the window and rests above groove42 upon the outer convolution of film 34. Shaft 54 and arm 70 continueto rotate until trigger pin 74 is lifted from support plate 78 againstthe force of spring 76. FIG. 4 shows in phantom lines the positionsassumed by arm 70 and trigger pin 74 before the cassette is opened andin full lines the position assumed after the cassette is fully opened. I

The outer end of film 34 is now manually withdrawn from the cassettethrough window 12 and fed around roller 80 to the input of a machinesuch as an automatic film processor; see FIG. 3. Of course, the entireoperation after the cassette is opened must be conducted under darkroomconditions if the cassette contains photographic film. The processorpulls film from core 30 which rotates in a counterclockwise direction asseen in FIGS. 4 and 5. Referring to FIG. 5, as the last convolution offilm is removed from core 30, trigger pin 74 drops from its phantom lineposition to its full line position within groove 42 where it abuts theupper end of lever 38. Continued rotation of core 30 relative to lever78, which has been stopped by trigger pin 74, opens clamp 36 to permitwithdrawal of the inner end of film 34 from slot 32.

As mentioned hereinbefore, roller 80 is mounted on slide 82 which isbiased outwardly by spring 84. Should the film jam in the cassette,slide 82 is drawn inwardly by the resulting tension of film 34 toactivate a safety cutout switch 86 and stop the processor, thuspreventing destruction of the film.

After all the film or other web material has been removed from thecassette, handle 24 may be rotated in a counterclockwise direction toclose window 12 by rotating inner drum 16. As the inner drum is rotated,lug 20 is lowered in slot 14 so that spring 64 can return arms 58 and 56to their positions shown in FIG. 1. This of course rotates shaft 54 andarm 70 to withdraw trigger pin 74, permitting closure of window 12 andremoval of the cassette from the adapter assembly without interferencewith the trigger pin.

The invention has been described in detail with particular reference topreferred embodiments thereof, but it will be understood that variationsand modifications can be effected within the spirit and scope of theinvention.

We claim:

1. An assembly adapted to receive a cassette of the type comprising: I

a. an outer housing;

b. a window in the housing;

v c. a cover for the window movable between open and closed positions;

d. a core rotatably mounted in the housing upon which convolutions of astrip of web material may be wound, the core having 1. a clamp in whichone end of the strip may be secured;

and

2. a release lever normally covered by the convolutions of the strip andoperatively connected to the clamp for releasing the strip;

said assembly comprising:

a. a movable trigger pin positioned adjacent the release lever when thecassette is received in said assembly;

b. means normally holding said trigger pin away from the cassette; and

c. means operatively connected to the cover at least during the cover'smovement to its open position for moving said trigger pin into contactwith the convolutions of the strip and for moving said trigger pin intoactuatable contact with the release lever in the absence of the strip,whereupon the clamp is opened to release the secured end of the strip.

2. An assembly adapted to receive a cassette of the type comprising:

a. an outer housing;

b, a window in the housing providing access to the interior thereof;

c. a cover for the window, the cover being movable between open andclosed positions;

d. a lug on the cover and movable therewith; and

e. a core rotatably carried in the housing for receiving convolutions ofa strip of web material to be wound thereon, the core having;

1. a clamp in which the inner end of the strip of web material may besecured;

2. a recess in the surface of the core; and

3. a release lever in the recess operatively connected to the clamp forreleasing the inner end of the strip of web material;

said assembly comprising:

a. a trigger pin positioned to overlie the recess when the cassette isreceived in said assembly;

b. means normally holding said trigger pin away from the cassette; and

c. means positioned to engage the lug during movement of the lug as thecover moves toward its open position for moving said trigger pin intoengagement with the convolutions of the strip of web material and formoving said trigger pin into the recess to contact the release lever inthe absence of web'material, whereupon said trigger pin abuts therelease lever to open the clamp and release the inner end of the stripof web material secured thereby.

3. An assembly adapted to receive a cassette of the type comprising:

a. a cylindrical drum;

b. a window in the drum providing access to the interior thereof;

c. an arcuate, lighttight cover for the window mounted for rotationabout the drum axis;

d. a lug on the cover and movable therewith whereby rotation of thecover in a direction to close the window moves the lug in one directionand rotation of the cover in a direction to open the window moves thelug in another direction; and Y e. a core rotatably carried in the drumcoaxial therewith for receiving convolutions of a strip of web materialto be wound thereon, the core having;

1. a clamp in which the inner end of the strip of web material may besecured;

2. a groove in the surface of the core; and

3. a release lever in the recess operatively connected to the clamp forreleasing the inner end of the strip of web material;

said assembly comprising:

a. a trigger pin positioned to overlie the groove when the cassette isreceived in said assembly;

b. means biasing said trigger pin in a direction away from the cassette;and

c. means positioned to engage the lug during movement of 5 the lug insaid other direction for moving said trigger pin into engagement withthe convolutions of the strip of web material and for moving saidtrigger pin into the groove to abut with the release lever in theabsence of web material covering the groove, whereupon said releaselever opens the clamp to release the inner end of the strip of webmaterial secured thereby.

4. An assembly comprising:

a. a member movable in first and second directions;

b. means biasing said member in said first direction;

c. a pin mounted on said member for rotation about an axis extendinggenerally perpendicular to said first and second directions, said pinextending perpendicular to said axis;

d. means biasing said pin for rotation about said axis;

e. an abutment on said member preventing rotation of said pin past aposition substantially alined with said second direction; and

f. means for selectively moving said member in said second directionagainst the force of said member biasing means.

5. An assembly comprising:

a. a rotatable shaft;

b. an arm fixed to and extending radially from said shaft;

c. means biasing said shaft for rotation in a first angular direction;

d. a pin mounted on said arm for rotation about an axis extendingparallel to and spaced from said shaft; said pin extending perpendicularto said axis;

e. means biasing said pin for rotation about said axis in a directionopposite to said first angular direction;

f. an abutment on said arm in the path of said pin for preventingrotation of said pin past a position substantially perpendicular to aplane defined by said shaft and said axis; and

g. means for selectively rotating said shaft in said angular directionopposite to said first angular direction.

